Humanity Needs a Hero, Abelard John Shepard's Tale
by DreGregoire
Summary: The tale of Spacer / War Hero Abelard John Shepard


Welcome to my Mass Effect FanFiction story starring Abelard John Shepard. I'm starting with pregame events. Enjoy. :)

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**HUMANITY NEEDS A HERO,**

**Abelard John Shepard's Tale**

_**Introduction**_

As the story was told to their adult son, John and Hannah Shepard had first met at an Alliance training center in 2150. They both had been chosen to receive the honor of joining the Systems Alliance military. Before the training session was out the two had fallen in love and married each other in a military chapel. They were not, at first, given the same assignment in space and they spent three years only able to communicate rarely as they worked on different ships that never crossed paths. Finally in early 2153 the two navel personnel were posted on Earth for officer training for half a year and it was there that their love flourished. After training the two did the required guard duty of the space surrounding Arcturus Station and it was on April 11, 2154 that they were blessed with the birth of their one and only child, Abelard John Shepard. For three years they lived happily as a single family unit, but then John Shepard was posted on a ship sent to combat the Turian threat in 2157, while Hannah was transferred to a unit that worked out of Eden Prime before returning to Arcturus Station in 2158.

Hannah and Abelard were rejoined in late 2159 by John but the separation had been hard on the couple and at five years of age their son was already showing the promise of being willful and uncooperative. John in particular had difficulty maintaining his cool head with the blatant disregard for authority his child displayed. For nearly a year the two struggled to show a unified front to their child while making it clear that the boy was expected to fall in line, and then the Shepard's were handed new orders. In 2160 they were both posted to a Gagarin station.

John and Hannah worried when they left their son alone with others because they were unable to have contact with their son because, at that time, Gagarin station was off the extranet. By all accounts he was a perfect angel for those other parents.

In answer to a call by the leaders of the Alliance to increase the presence of humans at the Citadel, the Shepard family obtained a residence there in 2163. The Alliance established the first school system for humans on the Citadel. Hannah and John would be required to take turns serving on various ships; fortunately, there were other Alliance families on the Citadel and they joined the other parents in taking care of children when both parents were called away.

In July 2165 when Abelard was eleven a couple of other Alliance children went missing. Before Abelard's caretakers could realize what the boy intended he had disappeared into the nearby service ducts. For three days the children were missing and John Shepard, having been inbound from his tour of duty, arrived on that third day and he and the other parents were frantic because only children and service drones could fit in the ducts. The group of parents had worked themselves up into a fine state and they were considering demanding the aid of the Citadel Security, when Ambassador Anita Goyle arrived. She was trying to calm the parents down, when two filthy children staggered into the common area dragging another child along between them. The one being dragged along was Shepard's boy. All the children showed signs of being in some sort of scuffle but John's boy was so beaten and bruised that he was rushed to the hospital at the Ambassador's insistence.

_**Abelard John Shepard, the Hero. **_

Abe, as his father insisted on calling him, opened his eyes and peeked out at his father through his lashes. Despite his father's visage being slightly blurred through those lashes the eleven year old could tell his father was angry. When his father glanced at him the boy quickly closed his eyes and remained still. "I know you're awake, Abe. Look at me, boy." Abelard John Shepard opened his eyes and looked at his father. "The other children said you rescued them. I am proud of you for that."

He was only eleven but he could clearly hear the unvoiced "but" in his father's voice and he trembled slightly before speaking. "Where's Mom?"

"She was trying to get here when she learned of your disappearance but once I told her you were safe she said to tell you she loves you and will see you next month when her tour is up." Abelard felt the tears welling up in his eyes because seeing his mother again was what kept him going as the other two children helped him stagger back home. "You have a fair amount of explaining to do before you break down, Abe. The other parents are waiting outside with the children you saved. Pull yourself together." His father's words and order had the desired effect and Abelard felt his tears recede as an angry feeling started deep in his abdomen.

He struggled to sit up to be in a better position to meet with the others but he was in so much pain that it made him gasp. Suddenly his father was there helping him to sit up. His father's touch was gentle as he helped him sit and carefully pushed pillows behind him to keep him in a comfortable sitting position. That always confused him about his father; that the man's voice could be so harsh and unforgiving, but always his touch was gentle and caring. His parents were so different from each other. His mother's voice was always gentle and caring, even when it held a note of steely warning in it, but unlike his father she had on occasion grabbed him roughly and had even once when he was seven given him a forceful smack on the backside. He knew his mother was gentler than some of the other mothers but her anger and disappointment had always made him feel worse than his father's harsh words did.

The two children he had saved and their parents entered along with four unknown adults. One of the adults stepped forward and she smiled down at him. "You are a very brave boy to go into the ducts and find your friends and help them get home. Can you tell me what happened and how you knew where to find them?"

Abelard drew in a breath and settled his mind as he prepared to give his report. "Even though it is forbidden we play in the ducts sometimes. A couple of weeks ago we ran into a group of kids there that accused us of trespassing. We were near a duct exit at the time and left when they threatened us. Nobody was supposed to go back in there."

"Was that when you got caught by C-Sec?"

"Yes, we came out of the ducts in an area that that Turian C-Sec Officer said was an adult only area. He didn't know we had been in the ducts and I told him I hacked a door to get in."

"Do you think lying to Security is okay?"

"I wasn't really lying because when we came out of the duct we were in a locked section and I did have to hack the locked door to get out of there." Abelard didn't miss the looks that passed between the adults and he didn't dare look at his father. "When I learned that Joe and Tammy were missing I knew they must have gone back into the ducts and I just knew those other kids must have them. So I went in and used my omni-tool map of the ducts to search for them. I had to go to new areas and I got turned around a fair bit before I plotted enough new areas that I found the other kids' hide out and then we got out and came back here."

"Joe says you used your omni-tool to attack some of the kids and then took on the rest of them yourself. Tammy said she's worried that the other kids might need medical attention."

Abelard shrugged and then looked at his father, but to his relief his father seemed more interested in something going on out in the corridor. It was then that the voices in the hall got louder and they all heard distinctly. "I want to meet this punk that beat up my son and his friends, putting all of them into the hospital." Abelard recognized the voice as a fellow soldier friend of his Dad's and it was then that he knew things just got worse for them all. His father was up and gone from the room before Abelard had finished comprehending what was happening.

"You're talking about my son, Hudson."

"Your son? Shepard, are you messing with me? Your son is what, nine years old?"

"Eleven actually."

"And you want me to believe that one eleven year old took on six eleven and twelve year old boys and won?"

"I don't care what you believe. Consider this, Hudson, my son went in the ducts after two missing children and it took him nearly three days to find them and get them away from their kidnappers."

"You're accusing my son of kidnapping?" The man sounded shocked and there was a long awkward silence in the hall that was interrupted by the woman who had been questioning Abelard.

"I think we all need to calm down and figure out what exactly is going on here. John, we need to handle this in a less aggressive manner. Go get more information from your son while I talk to Hudson and the other boys."

Abelard John watched his father close the door to his hospital room before speaking. "I didn't mean to make trouble for you."

His father didn't answer as he crossed the room and settled down on the chair beside the bed. Abelard worried until is father let out an audible sigh and gifted him with a wry smile. "You are not the cause of this. I tried warning Hudson and the others about their children, but they didn't want to hear me."

"I should have handled things differently. Maybe involved C-Sec or talked to the adults." Abelard met his father's questioning look and responded to the unspoken question. "I didn't think I had the time for that. When I heard that Tammy and Joe were missing I knew that time was crucial because I feared for their lives."

"If that is how you saw things, then I don't think it's necessary or productive for you to second guess yourself. Tell me about the hacking and using your omni-tool as a weapon."

Abelard answered his father immediately but he could feel his face become hot in shame because both his parents had stressed to him that he was to stay out of trouble when they bought him the upgraded omni-tool the year before, "I've been practicing repairing and hacking things since I got this version."

"Do you know what I find interesting, son?" Abelard didn't answer his father but he did look away from his father's gaze as he felt a surge of guilt. "What I find interesting is that I know for a fact your mother and I ensured that your omni-tool had a parental lock to keep you from hacking and upgrading without our consent." Abelard started and glanced up when his father grabbed his arm and before Abelard could say a word his father had disengaged Abelard's omni-tool and just as quickly had the tool attached and activated alongside his own omni-tool. "Parental lock disengaged history," his father stated and Abelard watched as the list of every time he had disengaged the lock scrolled up the virtual screen. "Copy dependent tool history to paternal parental tool," announced his father and once more Abelard watched his omni-tool uploaded his history of disobedience to his father's omni-tool. It took a long time for the action to complete and Abelard could feel himself become tense as his father opened his mouth and spoke again, "Engage Parental Lock Alpha Parental Voice Deactivation required. Allowed process Systems Alliance School Program. All other processes blocked."

"I won't be able to access the extranet or play games if you do it that way," protested Abelard.

"Maybe you should have thought of that when you decided you didn't have to obey us. Your mother is not going to be pleased by this." Abelard felt tears well up at mention of his mother and as Abelard fought his urge to cry his father handed him his omni-tool back. "When you found Tammy and Joe did you attack first or try to negotiate?"

Abelard straightened up and forced his upset deep at the perceived insult, "Of course I gave them the chance to let Tammy and Joe go, but they refused."

"Alright so you didn't attack right away, but did you try to negotiate? Or did you just demand Tammy and Joe's release?"

"Why would I negotiate with kidnappers," demanded Abelard as rage filled him at the idea of giving those scumbags a chance to weasel out of his wrath?

"You've have got to be kidding me," announced his father in a shocked sounding voice before standing and glaring as he began to speak loudly. "Abelard John Shepard, taking retribution is unacceptable. I have told you countless times that it's important to try to come up with a peaceful solution to any situation before taking drastic steps."

Abelard gripped his omni-tool tightly and nearly shouted at his father, "I did things the right way! Those bastards had no intention of letting us leave the ducts alive."

"You can't know that for sure," his father's voice had gotten louder. "You didn't even try to negotiate!"

Abelard crossed his arms and glared at his lap before muttering, "It's not like you would have actually done things any differently than I did."

"I heard that, son. And you are very close to finding yourself sent to live with relatives on earth. You may not want to believe that I would have negotiated, but I would have. You will likely come out of all this looking like a hero, but I want it to be clear to you that in my eyes you should have tried to do things differently. You are to consider yourself grounded until further notice once you are out of the hospital."

Abelard opened his mouth to complain but a knock on the door interrupted him. His father turned from him and joined the others in the hall.


End file.
